Unaware as he slept in the comfortable carriage, Apolo had begun his long journey to the capital. The journey itself would last a full 6 months, with the caravan crossing numerous towns and cities before finally reaching its much-awaited destination.
Each of these towns might or might not be directly controlled by a noble family, and if they were, Apolo, following his younger brother's instructions, would disembark to greet the respective lords.
According to the empire's classification, the titles of noble families were divided into the following ranks: baronies, counties, and duchies. A barony was led by a baron, who was the ruler of a city, town, or castle. Meanwhile, a county was ruled by a count, who was the ruler of multiple barons, cities, towns, and castles. Lastly, a duchy was ruled by a single duke, who was the ruler of several counts, cities, towns, and castles. While all were kings of their respective realms, they were considered noble families by the empire, for the true ruler of the empire was the emperor, also known as the king of all kings.
However, this classification only applied to the main noble families, that is, those who were kings of their territories and therefore swore allegiance solely to the emperor. As one would expect, there were also secondary noble families, those that obeyed the kings and not the emperor.
These secondary noble families were often formed when a count, for instance, decided to create a new city and an internal baron title to give to one of his landless sons. Consequently, a new barony would be formed, but this barony wouldn't obey the emperor, but the count. If the title were to be lost due to lack of heirs, it would return to the count, not the emperor. Another fundamental characteristic of this political system was that only the kings could impose laws, and thus, the secondary families were never considered reigns but rather administrators of the king's word.
In the case of Apolo's family, the main title was the Black Forest barony. Due to its history, this barony was considered an independent realm. Hence, Apolo's grandfather obeyed only the emperor and not the surrounding nobles, even though it was just a single castle. Following this explanation, Apolo's grandfather could be referred to in two ways: as the king of the Black Forest or as the baron of the Black Forest.
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Consequently, Apolo's political status made him a member of one of the main families of the empire. Thus, Apolo only needed to exchange formal greetings with other main families when passing through territories directly controlled by them, and not with the secondary families, as they held a lower status.
Throughout the empire, there were only 6 kings who obeyed the emperor. These comprised two baronies, three duchies, and a single county. Thus, apart from the emperor's family, there were only 6 main noble families that wielded the bulk of the empire's political, economic, and military power.
Naturally, the title of emperor also came with lands and their respective cities, administered by the emperor's family. Otherwise, no king would obey the emperor, as he would lack military power. Nevertheless, the duchies, counties, and baronies that directly belonged to the imperial family were considered secondary noble families. To sum up, the key difference between main and secondary families lay in who dictated the laws in each territory. The emperor couldn't impose laws in the main families' territories or realms. Therefore, the main families only pledged military allegiance, and the truth was that everything the emperor requested from them had to be politically negotiated beforehand.
So, the big question arises: Why does the emperor allow the main families to impose their own laws rather than controlling them directly? The answer is as simple as "the emperor doesn't control the entire world". Thus, external threats still exist, and the emperor has always had to cede power in exchange for loyalty.
As for external threats, there are three other "empires" that have vied for world control for millennia, yet none have ever achieved this feat. Regardless, anything external to the empire never concerned Apolo; he would never inherit the Black Forest throne. Just as Homero said, such political matters shouldn't concern an exile like him. Apolo's sole "obligation" was to enjoy what he was thanks to his ancestors' sacrifice: a noble belonging to one of the empire's main families.